On My Mind: 6-27-18

Edwige Feuillère

La Révolution française - I've been watching the two part film ("La Révolution française: les Années lumière" and "La Révolution française: les Années terribles") about the French revolution that came out in 1989 on Youtube (first part here) and greatly enjoying it. It is so far historically accurate and very educational while also being entertaining, something most films and books fail to do when dealing with such content matter. 

The cast is very pan-European and have some very interesting names. History + historically accurate costumes + interesting names = a winner for me! Below are some of the ones I like the most (I put who they played in parenthesis, as many of those are beautiful as well, or more unusual than the actor's names).

Andrezj Seweryn (Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre)
Vittorio Mezzogiorno (Jean-Paul Marat)
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Charlotte Corday)
Liliane Rovère (A woman)
Klaus Maria Brandauer (Georges Danton)
Peter Ustinov (Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Count of Mirabeau)
Jean-Yves Berteloot (Count Axel Fersen)
Claudia Cardinale (Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac)
François Cluzet (Camille Desmoulins)
Marion Grimault (Louison Chabry)
Véronique Leblanc (Rosalie Lamorlière)
Raphaëline Goupilleau (Mme Drouet)

Two Surnames? - I really enjoyed this article by Mayim Bialik talking about her choice to not only keep her last name after marriage, but to give her children both hers and her husband's surnames. It's something I've thought about a lot myself, and can definitely imagine doing the same as her in the future, but also understand women who don't choose to pass on their names just as much. 

I've never been particularly fond of my surname - it's not the most pleasing to the ear, or on paper, for that matter - but something about passing it on greatly appeals to me. I'd love to hear from those who chose to hyphenate, or use their maiden name, or came up with something else entirely (ala Swedish actors Noomi and Ola Rapace, who took a new surname together)!

Edwige, Hedwig, and Jadwiga - Back onto French names. I've always fancied Edwige - pronounced "ED-VEEZH" - the French form of Germanic Hedwig. Hedwig comes from the elements hadu, which means "battle, combat", and wig which means "war", making this a very strong name. I love Germanic names - they're sharp and clunky and even if they're not the prettiest they have an undeniable strength. The German pronunciation is also my favorite - "HET-vikh". There was a 13th century Saint named Hedwig who was the wife of a Polish Duke name Henry the Bearded, and this was also the name of a Polish Queen, but in the form of Jadwiga.

Zalie - I didn't really pay too much attention to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, mostly because I felt it had all been beat to death way before anything actually happened so I'm a little behind on everything. I just found out the youngest bridesmaid was Harry's goddaughter - Zalie Warren. I'm assuming it's just a version of  Zélie, a diminutive of Azélie, which is getting more and more popular in France every year. Interestingly enough, Zalie also has a twin sister named India, but she wasn't a bridesmaid because Harry isn't her godfather.